Describing herself as a writer (as well as a model) on her Instagram profile, Nootenboom has spoken out about her time at school.

The gorgeous Japanese-American beauty was bullied for being taller and bigger than the social standard set against her.

“The norm for Asian girls is to be, you know, petite, cute, and skinny,” Nootenboom explained to Revelist. “But growing up, I kind of was taller, bigger, more awkward. I was the opposite of what people expected me to be, and so I really want to use my platform to say, you know what? We’re all different. We can’t build a mold and expect people to all fit that mold.”

Nootenboom opened up about how her uncle inspired her: “I’ve always looked up to my uncle because he broke Asian norms with his music. Me, as an Asian curve model, I feel like I can use my platform as well to do that.”

Nootenboom firmly believes seeing body positive images in the media is empowering: “Sometimes [your] social media feed really does feed you. So always be careful what you eat.”